[CPEO-MEF] More toxin found at APG

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Maryland
THE BALTIMORE SUN
More toxin found at APG
New questions arise about perchlorate; Soil test results 'disturbing'
By Lane Harvey Brown
Originally published September 28, 2003

Soil and groundwater sampling has turned up disturbing results in a
boundary area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, where the hazardous chemical
perchlorate has leached into the city of Aberdeen's drinking-water
supplies.

Perchlorate, a rocket fuel additive also used in explosive devices such
as grenades, has been found in patchy concentrations thousands of times
higher than in previous discoveries - but not in the immediate area of
the city's 11 wells - raising new questions about the unregulated
contaminant and how it may be spreading.

"What's disturbing is it may be here, but not there - five feet away,"
said toxicologist Cal Baier-Anderson, who works with the community on
cleanup issues at the base. "It makes it a lot harder to delineate the
contamination."

The Maryland Department of the Environment expects to make a formal
request to the Army next week to conduct more-detailed soil tests to
determine how the perchlorate is leaching into the groundwater, said
Karl Kalbacher, program administrator for the department's environmental
restoration and remediation program.

"That will help us to gauge how long it will take to leach into the
groundwater," Kalbacher said.

"It's surprising," he said of the results. "We need to better understand
the situation and take the steps to protect public health because the
public is not at risk right now."

He and Baier-Anderson said the Army is following a solid course to
explore the perchlorate contamination, which was discovered in March of
last year near Aberdeen's drinking-water wells. The wells sit along the
western boundary of APG in an area called Camp Stanton, where troops
regularly trained with smoke grenades and other explosive devices.

The soil and groundwater tests of the area were expanded this year after
Army engineers and contractors walking the site last winter found seven
old barrels containing spent incendiary devices and three other sites
with pieces of scrap metal - such as wires, pipes or rods - on the
ground, base officials say.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/harford/bal-ha.apg28sep28,0,5510911.story?coll=bal-local-harford

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